In 2018, Gene Trotter went from middle school teacher to “The Head Buster.” Leaving his MPS gig, he opened Bust-N-Stuff, where he now sherpas people through sessions of cathartic destruction and mayhem. When you enter what Trotter calls the “bustaporeum,” you’re given a white, paint-stained jumpsuit and face shield. Music of your choice blasts over the speakers as you stroll the room, free to destroy its contents as you wish. You can smash plates with a shovel, throw glasses at the wall, take a golf club to a decorative vase, or pick up a sledgehammer and brutally go after a file cabinet until all your frustrations are released (or at least until your arms start to ache). Pretty soon shards are flying at the bulletproof glass, glass is cracking against the concrete walls, and a strange sense of satisfaction is filling your soul.
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Trotter sees birthday parties, work events, even people stopping by for some unconventional exercise. In fact, some of his first customers were a group of three women in their seventies celebrating cancer remission. “I had to help them get into their jumpsuits,” Trotter says. “But it was awesome – they swore like sailors.”
Trotter doesn’t like to refer to his establishment by the commonly used “rage room,” as he finds the experience isn’t furious, like that name implies, but ultimately joyful. His latest addition to Bust-N-Stuff is a second room where customers smash a paint-filled shotglass with a shovel, sending paint flying at a canvas that they get to take home.
“I see people come in, maybe a little stressed, and then the second they start hitting stuff – kid smiles,” Trotter says. “That’s my favorite thing to see, adults getting wide-eyed, doing a little dance, like ‘What did I just do?’”
Schedule an appointment at bustnstuff.com. Rates start at $43 for a 25-minute session.
